"Hey. Can I sit here?"

Paige looked up. It wasn't a large plane; there were only so many places Tim could sit. But she understood his meaning. "Yeah." She ran her hands through Walter's hair, careful not to disturb him. She'd been so surprised the first time he fell asleep with his head on her lap during a case, never imagining he would want to show that type of vulnerability in front of the team. But not even Toby cared to make a crack today. The week had been too exhausting. "I can't guarantee he won't wake up and come after you, though."

"He's had plenty of chances." Tim took the seat next to her, using the netting to steady himself as the plane rocked slightly. It would have been nice to secure a more comfortable ride back to L.A., but she was so happy to be going home that the method of transportation was inconsequential. "Hell, he could've stranded me in Malawi."

"It was too dangerous for us to stay there. Any of us." If the government got wind of their activities...and that wasn't even counting Chatha having a change of heart about the drive. Walter didn't dislike Tim enough to want to see him disappear. Probably.

Tim leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs and clasping his hands together. "Yeah. Well." He paused. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this. It was probably kind of stupid to think I could pull this off without a group of geniuses figuring it out."

She shrugged. "We're a team. Everything we do, we do it together. Succeed or fail."

"I know. I remember." He gave her a half-hearted smile. "I meant what I said, before. Working with Scorpion was a good part of my life. Under different circumstances…"

"Yeah." If those different circumstances included Walter not being in love with her, then they weren't anything to be wistful about.

"I'm sorry for lying. To you, especially."

The job came first. She'd always known that about him, deep down. No use rehashing it. "Thanks."

Tim nodded to Walter, whose deep breathing indicated that he was either fast asleep or excellent at faking it. "You happy? You and Ralph?"

Paige sighed. Tim had a gift for showing up just when she and Walter were struggling. When he first joined the team, she'd felt so rejected and alone that it was easy to throw herself into him. How could she not at least try? See where things led?

But now she knew where it led. Right back to Walter. Every time. "Yeah. We are."

Tim nodded, his eyes trained on the floor. "I was...pretty much always going to lose you to him, I think."

There had been other factors. The job. The distance. But perhaps she might have fought harder if she hadn't already discovered how much she was capable of feeling.

"Maybe." Paige swallowed past the tightness in her throat. "I probably could have stood to be more honest then. With you and myself."

"Same here." It was an odd sensation, to look at someone she'd once spent all her time with and see a stranger. Maybe not a stranger, exactly, but not a friend. Not yet. He offered her another tight-lipped smile. "It was good working with you again, Paige."

At least she hadn't gotten shot. "Yeah. But, uh...maybe it's best if you steer clear of Scorpion for a while."

He laughed humorlessly. "Understood."

"Mom!"

Paige broke into a wide smile as her son came rushing toward her, throwing his arms around her. He wasn't always quite this demonstrative, but they'd been apart for six days, and she missed him so much it hurt. "Hey, sweetie. What are you doing here?"

He turned to Drew, who was emerging from the kitchen with a soda in one hand. "Dad brought me."

"He wanted to see you as soon as you got back," Drew explained, coming to a stop next to Ralph and ruffling his hair. "I didn't believe it when you said you would be here at 6:47, but you're right on time."

"The team is pretty accurate with that kind of stuff." Paige dropped her duffel by her desk, groaning to herself as the flashing number informed her that they had thirty-two unread messages. It would have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight, she was desperate just to sleep in her own bed. "Ralph, baby, why don't you go help Walter unload the car?" She didn't have to tell him twice. The young genius was gone in a flash. She turned back to Drew. "Thanks for watching him. How was he?"

"Good. Every time I see him, it's like he's matured by five years."

"He's hard to keep up with." Even the geniuses fell short of matching him mentally, so she had no hope there. But there were other ways to connect. "Just give me a few minutes and we can get out of here."

She'd been freezing on the plane, but the garage was considerably warmer and without thinking too much, Paige unbuttoned her cardigan and shrugged it off her shoulders, draping it over her bag so she wouldn't forget it. "What are those?"

Paige frowned, her gaze traveling downward until she realized what Drew was staring at. She'd felt a few stings of pain earlier, of course, but it never occurred to her to check for bruises forming under her sweater. She quickly grabbed the cardigan and yanked it back on before Ralph could see the dark purple handprints marking where Chatha's men had grabbed her.

"Did…" His voice was low, and when he looked toward the garage entrance, Paige picked up his insinuation instantly.

"No! No," she said emphatically, shaking her head. "It wasn't Walter. We ran into some trouble on the case. It's fine. I'm fine."

"What kind of trouble?" Drew's expression soured. She hadn't seen him look so furious in...actually, she didn't know if she ever had. He'd always been more likely to walk away from an argument than explode. "The kind that gets people killed? How can you keep putting yourself in danger like that?"

She clenched her jaw. This wasn't the first time he'd expressed concern over the risks of Scorpion's work, but as far as she was concerned, Drew had no input in what she did with her life. "I am not having this conversation here. I'm tired and it's none of your business."

"Really? Not my business. Because I spent all week watching Ralph wait for you to come home. Do you even think about what would happen to him if you didn't come home? You're being stupid, Paige. And reckless. This is crazy."

Stupid. Nothing caused her more insecurity than that word. And nothing made her blood boil more than her love for Ralph being questioned. "I know what happened to him when you didn't come home. Is this seriously the road you want to go down?"

"Paige?" Oh, crap. Walter was suddenly next to her, so tense he could shatter, which meant Ralph was probably also in the garage and she couldn't let this escalate.

Too late. "This has nothing to do with him," Drew snapped, pointing at the genius. "This is about our son."

"You think taking care of him for a week makes you his father?" Walter said coldly. "Paige has been taking care of Ralph for years. You have no idea what she's been through to raise him."

"Stop." She did the only thing she could think to do and stepped between them, placing her hand on Walter's chest. "I am not letting this happen in front of my son. You," she addressed the genius first, "cool down. Get some sleep. We'll deal with this tomorrow. And you," she glared at Drew, "get Ralph, we're leaving. You and I need to talk."